


Stitches

by BlueTeamSucks



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: AU, F/F, Grey works on the MOI, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2014-07-21
Packaged: 2018-02-09 20:39:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1997046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueTeamSucks/pseuds/BlueTeamSucks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carolina winced as she shifted in her seat. The ship did another barrel roll while 479er cackled. Washington's moans could be heard from where she was sitting, even through the sealed door.</p>
<p>"We almost lost 'em. Hang on for one more sec." 479er veered the ship sharply to the right. South shrieked from the back.</p>
<p>"What are you trying to do, kill us?" York yelped as they dove for the third time. Carolina lurched in her seat, silently praying that her seat belt didn't choose this moment to break.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stitches

Carolina winced as she shifted in her seat. The ship did another barrel roll while 479er cackled. Washington's moans could be heard from where she was sitting, even through the sealed door.

"We almost lost 'em. Hang on for one more sec." 479er veered the ship sharply to the right. South shrieked from the back.

"What are you trying to do, kill us?" York yelped as they dove for the third time. Carolina lurched in her seat, silently praying that her seat belt didn't choose this moment to break.

479er laughed. "I shook those ships off of our tail, we'll be good until we get back to the Mother. If they choose to follow us there, then they deserve what they have coming for them."

"Is it over?" Wash whimpered loudly.

479er opened the door. "Clear skies from here."

Carolina sighed in relief and unstrapped her seat belt. She jumped up and looked into the back. "Everyone okay?"

Wash had taken off his helmet and looked ready to hurl. South was on the ground, muttering about never being able to stand up again. York shot her a thumbs up. "All good. How are you doing?"

Carolina shrugged. "I'll be fine."

York eyed her bleeding shoulder. "When we get back to the Mother of Invention, you better promise me that you'll go to the med bay. Remember what happened last time you got shot and you chose to ignore it? The Director didn't let you go on missions for two weeks after that stunt _and_ he blamed me for it."

Carolina rolled her eyes. "York, I'll be fine."

"There's new medical staff. They might be better than good ol' Thompson, if that's what you're worried about." South pushed herself into a sitting position, resting her head against the wall of the drop ship.

"Who?" Wash finally took his head out from between his knees. He didn't look as green and as airsick anymore, which was fortunate for everyone aboard.

South shook her head and York shuddered at the thought of Thompson. Carolina frowned. "You don't wanna know."

Wash looked ready to protest, when 479er shouted back at them. "Here we are, home sweet home!" The ship lurched as they docked. After a pause, the door unsealed and slowly opened.

South and Washington practically leaped out of the ship. Carolina half-expected one of them to kiss the ground. Before he left, York turned and gave her what she assumed was supposed to be a pointed stare. Sometimes it was easy to forget that others couldn't see your expressions through your helmet.

"Med bay. Now." He ordered, then went in the same direction that South had. Probably to go find North.

"You alright Niner?" Carolina asked, wanting to make sure she wasn't leaving too much work for the pilot.

479er nodded and motioned for her to leave. "I'm good. Just need to check a couple of things, then I'll lock her up for the night. Take York's advice and head to the med bay, I know that your shoulder is worse than you're letting on."

Carolina sighed, finally giving into the peer pressure. "Alright, alright. I'm going." She walked off the ship and walked toward the hospital. As she walked, she pulled off her helmet and tucked it under her arm. The cool air felt good against her skin, sometimes it could get stuffy in those ships.

The Freelancer's section of the med bay was empty except for one medic, who was sitting down at a desk scribbling something illegible on a sheet of paper. Carolina waited patiently for the medic to finish up what she was writing. Carolina was in no hurry. Despite what York and Niner had said, her shoulder didn't hurt that much.

The medic looked up. "Oh, hello!" She said, almost breathlessly. Her helmet was off as well. She was young and pretty. Her hair was a pulled back in a ponytail and was a dark shade of purple, matching the color of the stripes on her armor. She was Asian and had pretty brown eyes and a large grin. Her eyeliner looked _amazing_ and she had a light purple septum piercing. Carolina found herself distracted by her.

Carolina shot her a smile. "Hey."

"Can I help you?" The medic cocked her head to the side, looking curious.

"Yeah, I was shot in the shoulder during my mission." Carolina gestured to her right shoulder as if she needed proof.

The medic nodded toward one of the many beds that lined the walls. "Alright, would you mind taking off your upper body armor and sitting down?"

Carolina did as she was told and quickly pulled off her armor. Her shoulder was bleeding a lot more than she had realized. She shrugged her bodysuit off of her right shoulder and sat down on one of the beds. The medic brought over a tray with tools on it.

The medic snapped on a pair of gloves and began treating the wound. Carolina tried not to flinch as she started to remove the bullet.

To distract herself from the pain, Carolina tried to make some conversation. "When'd you get here?"

The medic kept her eyes on Carolina's shoulder. She was sticking her tongue out in concentration. Frankly, Carolina found it adorable. "About an hour ago. Just barely finished my tour. Honestly, I thought I would have a bit more time before I got my first patient, but I'm not complaining."

Carolina had to stop herself from shrugging. "We manage to get ourselves hurt a lot, it probably won't be that long before I'm back."

She stopped for just a moment to glance up at Carolina and smile. Then, she turned back to her work. "I never caught your name."

"Carolina."

"I'm Doctor Grey. You can call me Emily."

"Nice to meet you, Emily." Carolina smiled, but then gasped as the bullet was pulled out of her shoulder.

Emily dropped it into a small container and set her tweezers down. "Nice to meet you too, Carolina."

Carolina moved to stand up, but Emily caught her wrist and yanked her back down. "Where do you think you're going? I still have to stitch it up!"

Groaning, Carolina sat down on the edge of the bed. Emily rolled her eyes teasingly as she got the needle ready. "You just got shot, I'm sure you can handle a few stitches."

Carolina tried not to pout as Emily started to stitch the wound up. It only took her a few minutes to finish it and cut the thread.

"You done yet?" Carolina asked hesitantly.

"Yep! You're right as rain!" Emily leaned back as she pulled the gloves off. Carolina rolled her shoulder a couple of times, then nodded in satisfaction.

Carolina zipped up her bodysuit and started to put her armor back on. She was careful to not jostle her shoulder as she hefted her chest plate on. Emily started to write something out on a piece of paper. When Carolina was dressed, helmet and everything, Emily handed the slip to her along with a small bottle of pills. It was directions for taking pain medication.

"No intense training or workouts for a week. Only easy missions. Don't want you ripping your stitches," Emily laughed, "I'll let The Director know."

"Thanks Emily." Carolina nodded and waved as she walked out the door.

When she got to the locker room, everyone was instantly smothering her. They took their medical staff very seriously, mostly because they were always finding ways to get injured. Nobody wanted a shitty medic who could barely treat a dislocated shoulder, like Thompson.

"So?" York prompted. Everyone stared at her expectantly.

Carolina gave them all a thumbs up. "She's good. Barely felt it."

They all relaxed, looking satisfied. South cocked her head to the side, looking curious. "What's her name?"

Carolina almost told them 'Emily', but something stopped her. It felt almost too personal, so instead she said, "Doctor Grey."

"She already sounds better than Thompson," Connie laughed happily.

"Okay seriously, who the fuck is Thompson?" Washington asked, looking distressed. Nobody bothered to answer his question, as they had all gone back to their previous conversations.

 

The next time Carolina had the chance to go to the med bay, it wasn't for her. York had jumped from a high place during a mission and landed on his ankle wrong. Carolina had to practically carry him as they limped to the hospital.

Emily looked up as they hobbled in. She smiled at them both. "Why don't you lie down on one of those beds?"

Carolina helped York ease onto the bed. He gratefully fell back and groaned.

"Can you help me get his armor off of his leg?" Emily asked, looking apologetic, as if she hated to ask this of Carolina.

Carolina nodded. "Of course." She gently unstrapped the armor from his left foot, pausing every time York yelped or moaned.

"So, what happened?" Emily asked as she leaned over York's foot once Carolina was done.

York was in no place to explain, so Carolina was the one to tell the story. "He had to jump off of a burning house. Landed on his foot, I think."

"Were you with him?" Emily asked Carolina, then turned to York. "Tell me when it starts to hurt." She started moving his ankle. York winced, but stayed quiet.

"Yeah, it was just us. Small missions, like you said." Carolina tried not to look at York's face when he cried out in pain.

"There! It hurts there!" He yelped.

Emily nodded and switched to moving his foot in a different way. "I'm gonna need to have someone do an x-ray to make sure that you haven't broken anything. I don't think you have though, it's probably just a sprain." She explained, then let go of him.

She pulled out a phone and quickly dialed a number. "Hey Frank, Agent York has a possible fracture. You mind doing an x-ray? Yeah? Thanks." She turned off the phone and slipped it back into her pocket. Emily clapped her hands together happily. "Okay then! Frank will come grab you and do an x-ray. We'll be able to see if you need physical therapy or surgery."

York looked horrified. "What?!"

Emily smiled. "Just worst case scenarios. You'll probably get a couple of days off work while you rest your foot."

York still didn't look too happy with that option, but he seemed relieved that he wouldn't need something so extreme. Emily turned to Carolina. "While you're here, can I check your shoulder? Around time I remove those stitches."

"Sure." Carolina started to take off her armor, when there was a knock at the door.

A chipper medic with purple armor bounced into the room. He had a wheelchair with him. Carolina immediately tensed up, ready to have to drag York into it.

York took one look at the wheelchair and said, "Fuck that."

"No, you can't walk there. You'll make it worse," Carolina warned.

"I'm not riding in that stupid thing, Lina." York clenched his jaw and glared at the wheelchair as if it had insulted his mother.

"Do you want me to carry you? Because I will carry you." Carolina started towards him, totally prepared to carry him to the x-ray room.

York narrowed his eyes at her. "You fucking wouldn't dare."

Carolina nodded. "I fucking would. Which would you rather, me carrying you or you going in the wheelchair?"

Still looking like he didn't believe her, York smirked. "I would rather you carry me."

"Your shoulder is still healing," Emily protested weakly.

Carolina shrugged and started towards York. He looked like he was having second thoughts. Carolina grabbed him and slung him over her shoulder in a fireman's carry. Emily gasped and the purple medic looked uncertain when Carolina turned to him. "Alright let's go."

"Carolina! Put me down!" York squawked and struggled against her grip.

Carolina grunted, but didn't let go. "If I put you down, will you go in the wheelchair?"

"Yes! Just let go of me!"

Grinning, Carolina walked over to the wheelchair and dumped York into it. She winked at a surprised Emily.

York glared at her. "This stays between us. Don't tell North."

"Sure. Now go." Carolina waved at the purple medic. He shrugged, then wheeled York out of the room, already chattering to him about x-rays.

"Wow, when they said you guys were strong, I didn't realize they meant that strong!" Emily said, sounding amazed.

Carolina smiled. "Yeah? Sorry about that, he just wants to safeguard his masculinity." 

Emily shrugged. "It's fine. I'm glad you made him go in the chair though, he could've made his ankle even worse by walking on it."

"That's why I made him do it. He's just worried I'll tell the others that he went in a wheelchair." Carolina pulled her bodysuit down so Emily could look at the healing bullet wound.

She grabbed a pair of scissors and some tweezers and snipped at the knot. "Will you tell them? Even though you promised not to?"

Carolina laughed, then nodded. "Of course I will. His boyfriend, North, will laugh his ass off."

Emily paused what she was doing. "His boyfriend? I thought you were..."

"Me? Oh no, I like girls. York and I are just really good friends." Carolina had to stop herself from wincing when Emily carefully pulled the stitches out.

Emily didn't say anything else, but Carolina thought she heard her mutter something under her breath that sounded an awful lot like, "Good."

"Alright! You're good to go. You can take on some tougher missions now, as long as you make sure to keep the wound clean. We wouldn't want it to get infected. That could be painful," Emily said.

Carolina nodded and quickly put her armor back on. After a few minutes of silence, she said, "Thank you, Emily."

"No problem." Emily smiled up at her and Carolina paused in getting dressed. They stared at each other for a moment. Carolina leaned in slightly, without meaning to. Emily smelled nice, like lavender. She looked nervous, but didn't move when Carolina got even closer.

Just when their lips were about to touch, York clattered back into the room. Luckily, he was arguing with the purple medic and didn't see when Emily jerked away. Carolina closed her eyes, trying to keep her disappointment and irritation at bay.

"You're not a very good medic, you know that right Doc?" York scowled at the purple medic as he jumped up from the chair, balancing on his good foot.

Carolina ground her teeth together. "Shut up York."

York looked over at her with an expression not unlike that of a kicked puppy. "What the hell did I do?"

Emily cleared her throat nervously as Carolina gave York a death glare. "Thanks Frank. Can I see those x-rays?"

The purple medic handed Emily a stack of papers. He seemed miffed as he grabbed the wheelchair and left the room.

Emily carefully inspected the x-ray results, then looked back up at York. She smiled cheerfully. "Yep! Just a sprain. I'll need to wrap it in a bandage, but you'll be fine to leave as long as you promise to use crutches and keep your foot well elevated and iced for at the very least, two days. No missions until then."

York sat down on the end of one of the beds and propped his foot up as Emily started to wrap it for him. He looked cranky and in pain. Carolina decided that North was needed to make him feel better.

"Hey, I'm gonna go grab North. He'll be worried that you haven't come back yet and he'll probably want to help you out," Carolina offered. She snatched up her helmet from the nightstand that she had left it on.

York just grumbled as Carolina left the hospital. She partially wanted to calm him down and partially wanted to get him out of the med bay so that she could talk to Emily.

She found North in the locker room, talking to South. Maine and Washington were scuffling in one corner, but other than them, the room was empty.

"North?" She interrupted, not bothering to wait.

North looked over at her, seeming relieved. "Hey Lina. How'd the mission go? I haven't seen York yet, so I wasn't able to ask him."

Carolina's momentary silence instantly had North worried. His expression quickly changed to one of concern and South irritably rolled her eyes.

"What happened?" North asked.

"Nothing bad. He just sprained his ankle by jumping off of a building. He wanted your help down at the hospital," Carolina assured him. North had the tendency to be protective over York.

North nodded. "Alright, I'll head there now. You want to come with?"

Carolina shrugged. "Sure. Just let me get out of my armor really fast, then we can leave."

She quickly changed into more casual clothes in one of the changing rooms. Wearing heavy armor around all day could get tiring. Especially after a mission, it was often hot and confining. Carolina was glad that she had opted to wear make-up that day. Sometimes it was hard to even bother when nobody would see your face.

When Carolina stepped out of the changing room, the locker room was a bit more crowded. South was now chatting with Connie by her locker. Wyoming was arguing with Wash about not touching his stuff while Maine watched in silence. North was waiting anxiously by the door.

"Alright, let's go." Carolina nodded goodbye to South as North walked out the door without saying anything in response. He seemed twitchy and worried, though Carolina couldn't blame him. York was often doing stupid things to get himself hurt, North must be getting tired of being concerned all the time.

North speed-walked to the med bay, practically leaving Carolina in the dust. She had to jog to keep up with him. She didn't mind though, Carolina felt a little bit bad about leaving York alone when he was in pain like that. At least he had a good doctor like Emily with him.

When they got back, York was out of armor as well and his foot was wrapped tightly in a bandage. Emily was explaining something about sprained ankles that involved certain types of surgery. He was leaning heavily on a pair of crutches and looked a bit nervous about what Emily was saying.

"You alright, York?" North tried to seem calm as he walked up to his boyfriend, but Carolina could see his wide eyes as he looked at the crutches.

York grinned once he saw North. "I'm fine. Just a itty bitty sprain. It doesn't even hurt!"

North eyed the bandage in suspicion. "Uh-huh." He turned to Emily for verification. "What do you say, Doctor...?"

Emily smiled reassuringly. "Grey. He's right, it's only a sprain. Although, it can be as painful as a broken ankle. It depends on the sprain, honestly. Agent York will need to keep his foot elevated and iced for at least forty-eight hours. No walking on it and absolutely no training, working out, or missions for now. If there are any problems with paperwork or The Director, just come to me. I can fix it for you if need be."

North nodded, seeming satisfied with her answer. "Thanks Doctor Grey. Does he need to stay here or can I take him back to his room?"

"Sure, you can take him out as long as you keep an eye on him. He seems... Stubborn." Emily gave Carolina a smirk.

Carolina laughed loudly. "Oh yeah, North! I forgot to tell you, I had to carry York to get him into a wheelchair."

York gave her a betrayed look as North glared at him. "Why can't you just listen to the doctors for once? It's not like the wheelchair will hurt you."

York rolled his eyes and started limping to the door with North's help. "It's humiliating! I'm a Freelancer, I've killed people! I shouldn't have to be pushed around by some overly cheerful purple medic who accidentally dumped me on the floor at one point."

"Well, you were probably struggling too much! I think that..." Their argument trailed off as they got further away from the hospital. Carolina was no longer able to hear them and judging by the way Emily turned away, she couldn't either.

Carolina took a deep breath and started to talk. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier. It was inappropriate of me to make you feel uncomfortable like that."

Emily looked back at her and cocked her head to the side. "Who said I felt uncomfortable?"

Carolina blinked and immediately tried to backtrack. "I... Don't know. I just assumed because you, I mean-"

She was shut up by Emily kissing her. A pretty good way to be quieted, as ways go. Carolina was shocked for a moment, but quickly regained her composure. She kissed back gently. Emily was a good kisser, but seemed a bit inexperienced. Carolina was perfectly fine with moving slowly.

 

After that day, Carolina managed to get herself hurt a lot more. After almost every mission she would need to go to the med bay for a bullet wound or dislocated shoulder or a head injury. The other Freelancers and Emily were both concerned about her habit of getting injured.

Nobody else realized why she needed to constantly go to the hospital until one day when everyone was spending the day training out of armor.

Carolina was sparring with York, while North watched and waited for his turn. Maine was chasing after Wash for stealing his paint gun, which everyone knew was the best one for target practice. Wyoming was getting pummeled by South. Florida and Connie were comparing knife throwing strategies.

The door to the training room opened and Carolina only spared the figure in the door a glance, before turning back to York. It took her a minute to realize that it was Emily waiting for her. She called a time-out and York gratefully stopped.

Carolina walked over to Emily, dodging a squealing Wash who was somehow still managing to avoid a pissed off Maine. "Hey. What are you doing here?" Carolina asked, panting slightly from the workout.

Emily shrugged. "You mentioned that you were running out of pain medication. I had a break, Frank was taking over my shift for a minute, so I thought I would bring you some. Is... That okay?" She looked suddenly nervous as she handed over the bottle of pills.

"Of course it is! Thanks, Emily." Carolina grinned at her. Without thinking, she leaned over and kissed Emily. Once she realized where they were, she decided that she didn't care. The other Freelancers would've found out eventually anyways.

When she pulled away the room was silent. Emily was giving her a shocked, wide-eyed look. Her cheeks were flushed slightly. "Uhhh... No problem?" She said.

Carolina laughed. "You gonna stay? You can watch if you want to."

Emily shook her head, looking sad. "I can't. Like Agent York said the other day, Frank is really not the best doctor. I don't know if I trust him alone."

"Alright. I'll see you later." Carolina smiled as Emily left the training room.

When she turned around, all of the Freelancers were staring at her in surprise. Carolina glowered at Wyoming, as his mouth had fallen open. South cackled, breaking the tension. "That was almost better than the time we walked in on North and York making out on the couch!"

Carolina rolled her eyes at her teammate. "It was not, be quiet."

"Wait, is that why you keep getting yourself hurt?" Wash asked suddenly. Before Carolina could answer, Maine tackled him and easily stole back his pistol.

North cast her a knowing look as she walked back over to the area she had been practicing. York clapped her on the back happily. "Congratulations!"

"On what?" Carolina gave him a confused stare as she resumed her fighting stance.

"On having your heart triple in size." York smirked at her.

Carolina punched him even harder than she had first intended to.


End file.
